(A) When any employee, regardless of status (full, part, temporary, seasonal, etc.) is injured on the job, he/she must immediately notify his/her supervisor. He/she will be directed to the medical provider assigned by the County's insurance department for treatment and must obtain a release to return to work from the same provider before returning to work. Employees may not receive treatment from his/her own physician for treatment of a work-related injury.
(B) If an employee is injured or disabled while working (at his/her County position) and must, due to that injury or disability, miss work (a physician has certified that the employee is unable to work) the employee will not be paid during a five (5) calendar day waiting period that begins on the first day of incapacity. After the waiting period, he/she will be paid at the rate set for an employee on worker's compensation. During the five day waiting period an employee may use any available sick/personal or vacation time.
(C) When an employee is injured on the job, he/she is not entitled to receive both full pay from the County (by the use of sick/vacation days) and benefits from worker compensation for the same period of time. Although the actual length and amount of worker compensation coverage varies, a maximum limit of 500 weeks of compensation is set by state statute.
(D) Additional Provisions
(1) When he/she returns to work after sick leave (Leave of Absence) from an on-the-job injury, he/she will again begin to earn sick days.
(2) If an employee misses work for an on-the-job injury for which worker compensation pays benefits, the County shall continue insurance benefits (as they were when the employee was working). The employee is responsible for making his/her normal contribution. Once such worker compensation benefits end, the employee must obtain and maintain his/her own insurance (at a cost equal to the COBRA rate).
(3) When an employee misses work due to an on-the-job injury, he/she must submit a statement from the County's medical provider estimating how long it will be before he/she may return to work. If the employee is not able to return to work pursuant to the provider's estimate, he/she must obtain and submit an additional statement from the medical provider, extending that leave. When returning to work, an employee must bring a medical release to return to work.
(4) The County provides “light duty” in those cases where the department has that type of work available and a physician has authorized such work. The release should state how long the “light duty” could be expected to be in effect. If the department does not have any “light duty” available, the employee must be cleared by the County's medical provider before returning to work.